In the statement today, NHS England said: ‘The NHS long-term plan will see GPs surgeries big and small work to support each other in around 1,400 primary care networks covering the country, with each network having access to a social prescriber link worker and NHS England agreeing to fund their salaries in full.

‘By 2023-24, social prescribers will be handling around 900,000 patient appointments a year.’

NHS England’s acting medical director of primary care Dr Nikita Kanani said recruiting social prescribers will be a ‘priority target’ of the Government's personalised care plan.

She said: ‘We will be recruiting a substantial number of people to support GPs over the next five years, to help ease the workload and pressures that we know general practice is under. But we see the network of social prescribers as a fundamental change to the way primary care operates and vital to the future.

BMA GP committee chair Dr Richard Vautrey said it was vital, ‘now more than ever’, that patients are able to see the right health professional within a reasonable timeframe.

He added: ‘The BMA has long-backed social prescribers supporting the general practice team, and this commitment to roll them out across the country is very welcome.’

Readers' comments (5)

Anyone else remember Exercise on Prescription? That didn't work either.

Predictably the BMA has no interest in asking awkward questions such as will GPs be expected to house these people for free, and how much NHS England are offering to compensate for the extra work this scheme will generate.

How about we all accept that the medical profession's paternalistic, dis-empowering attempts to portray every social ill as a "disease" has failed (looking at you Royal Colleges and second rate academics),and has nearly destroyed the NHS as a result. Put these link workers somewhere else ,with a citizens advice bureau as well , and leave us to get on with real medicine , not some Open University social anthropologist drivel.